36-year old righty swinging outfielder Lew Ford will need groin surgery, which will likely shelve him for most of the rest of the 2013 season. Ford played in 21 games in AA+AAA-ball for the Orioles this year and he was 18 for 79 (.228 avg, .727 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 3 homers and 10 RBIs. He played in 25 games for the Orioles last year (his first with the team) and he was 13 for 71 (.183 avg, .609 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 3 homers, 4 RBIs and 1 stolen base. This is a bad break for Ford, as he was likely going to get another shot at the show at some point in 2013.

The Orioles have designated 32-year old righty swinging catcher Chris Snyder. Snyder played in 6 games for the O’s this year and he was 2 for 17 (.118 avg, .368 OPS) with 1 RBI. Snyder has played in 712 games in his first 10 years in the majors and he is 467 for 2,084 (.224 avg, .711 OPS) with 227 runs scored, 77 homers and 298 RBIs. The Orioles have activated Taylor Teagarden off the D.L. to replace Snyder as Matt Wieters’ backup. Snyder will likely reject an outright assignment to AAA and become a free agent.

UPDATE: (6/5/2013) – Chris Snyder has signed a minor league deal with the Orioles, so he will stay with the organization in AAA. He could get another shot with them later this year.

26-year old righty reliever Tom Boleska has retired from baseball. He pitched in 16 games (0 starts) in AA-ball for the Orioles this year and he was 2-4 with 1 save, a 5.33 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. Boleska pitched in 198 games (3 starts) in his seven years in the minors and he was 16-17 with 53 saves, a 2.71 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Despite having success in the minors, Boleska wasn’t any closer to the majors this year than he was in the past, which had to frustrate him.

The Orioles have released 26-year old righty swinging catcher Jose Gil. Gil played in 3 games in AA+AAA-ball this year for the O’s and he was 2 for 9 (.222 avg, .586 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. He has now played in 538 games in his first 9 years in the minors and he is 428 of 1,825 (.237 avg, .663 OPS) with 203 runs scored, 40 homers, 240 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. Gil won’t be missed by the Orioles.